Bengaluru: In cheque-bounce cases, a court is not required to issue notice to the accused or hear them before taking cognisance of the offence, the Karnataka high court has observed, holding that Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act prevails over BNSS provisions which require a court to hear the accused before charges are framed.Justice M Nagaprasanna rejected Mangaluru-based Mudra Developers’ challenge to a district and sessions court order, dated Dec 4 last year, that had upheld a magisterial court’s decision to take cognisance of a cheque-bounce complaint filed by Ashirvad Infra Developers against Mudra Developers and its two partners for dishonour of Rs 10 lakh cheque.
Mudra Developers argued that since BNSS came into force on July 1, 2024, the magistrate, in the order dated Sept 26, 2024, could not have deviated from the procedure prescribed under Section 223 of BNSS. This provision requires issuance of notice to the accused, an opportunity of hearing, and only thereafter taking cognisance of the offence.However, the court pointed out that BNSS Section 5 carves out an exception, stating that nothing contained in BNSS shall, in the absence of a specific provision to the contrary, affect any special or local law in force. Justice Nagaprasanna held that NI Act is a special law and, therefore, overrides BNSS in such cases.
